Method of authenticating an article using microradios

ABSTRACT

A microradio is provided with a hysteretic switch to permit an optimum range increasing charging cycle, with the charging cycle being long relative to the transmit cycle. Secondly, an ensemble of microradios permits an n 2  power enhancement to increase range with coherent operation. Various multi-frequency techniques are used both for parasitic powering and to isolate powering and transmit cycles. Applications for microradios and specifically for ensembles of microradios include authentication, tracking, fluid flow sensing, identification, terrain surveillance including crop health sensing and detection of improvised explosive devices, biohazard and containment breach detection, and biomedical applications including the use of microradios attached to molecular tags to destroy tagged cells when the microradios are activated. Microradio deployment includes the use of paints or other coatings containing microradios, greases and aerosols. Moreover, specialized antennas, including microcoils, mini dipoles, and staircase coiled structures are disclosed, with the use of nano-devices further reducing the size of the microradios.

RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a divisional of and claims the benefit ofpriority toprior U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/578,275, by inventors Karl D.Brommer et al., entitled “Microradio Design, Manufacturing Method andApplications for the Use of Microradios”, which claims rights under 35USC §119(e) from U.S. patent application Ser. No. 60/645,079 filed Jan.20, 2005; U.S. patent application Ser. No. 60/645,221 filed Jan. 20,2005; U.S. patent application Ser. No. 60/645,222 filed Jan. 20, 2005;U.S. patent application Ser. No. 60/645,223 filed Jan. 20, 2005; U.S.patent application Ser. No. 60/645,224 filed Jan. 20, 2005; U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 60/645,226 filed Jan. 20, 2005; and U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 60/645,227 filed Jan. 20, 2005. This Applicationmay also be considered to be related to U.S. application Ser. No.60/711,217 filed Aug. 25, 2005; U.S. application Ser. No. 60/711,314filed Aug. 25, 2005; U.S. application 60/711,218 filed Aug. 25, 2005;U.S. application Ser. No. 60/711,325 filed Aug. 25, 2005; U.S.application Ser. No. 60/722,309 filed Sept. 30, 2005; U.S. applicationSer. No. 60/726,145 filed Oct. 13, 2005; and U.S. application Ser. No.60/726,146 filed Oct. 13, 2005.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to microradios and more particularly to thedesign, manufacture and use of microradios.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The size of radios, meaning combined transmitters and receivers, hasbeen steadily decreasing so that their use, for instance, in RF tags isnow commonplace. It will be appreciated that each RF tag has a singlesmall or miniature radio that in general costs approximately 50 cents.All of these RF tags are meant to be used to tag items and to be able todetect the items when they pass through a checkpoint. The costs of suchtags and applications for even smaller tags give rise to the possibilityof a large number of applications should, for instance, the radios beimplementable well below a cubic millimeter in size and moreparticularly down to a 10-micron cube.

Moreover, the power output of such single microradios leaves somethingto be desired inasmuch as single microradios are limited in outputpower, especially when using parasitic powering schemes. Moreover, inorder to parasitically power such miniature radios one needssupercapacitor technology involving high energy density capacitorsfabricated in a regular pattern with a large surface area per volume.

It will be appreciated that if the microradio needs to have a givenpower output to obtain a given range, then the range is severely limitedboth by the ability to provide supercapacitors or, if a battery iscarried on board, then the size of the miniature radio is prohibitivelylarge.

Were it possible to make large numbers of microradios in the 10-micronsize range and were it possible to distribute these radios across anarea; and further if the radios could be accessed so as to provide theiroutputs in a coherent fashion, then the distributing of these radiosover a given area would have an n² power advantage such that if it werepossible to manufacture, code and distribute 1,000 radios in a givenarea, one would have a million more times the radiated power.

By causing each of the radios to coherently radiate, one can increaserange or concurrently decrease the need for tuning each of the radios totheir antennas. There is therefore a benefit in providing an ensemble ofa large number of miniature radios from the point of view of, forinstance, being able to detect the radios at 10,000 kilometers orbetter, such as by satellite.

The ability to produce hundreds of thousands or millions of radios at atime not only is important to reduce the cost of the radios from, forinstance, 50 cents per radio to $1.00 per million radios, it is alsoimportant that one be able to utilize non-high density capacitors thatpresently exist in order to power the miniature radios parasitically.Because batteries cannot be made sufficiently small, one requires that amicroradio be powered parasitically, meaning that energy that isavailable from the environment is captured on a capacitor, where it isrectified and utilized to power the transceiver.

Thus it would be desirable to provide a parasitically poweredmicroradio, parasitically coupled to some decent antenna, with themicroradio having its own microantenna.

Even in the case that each radio is not particularly well-tuned towhatever antenna it is using, the ability to produce large numbers ofextremely inexpensive microradios and randomly distribute them across asurface that could function as an antenna could result in at least alarge portion of the miniature radios being located at the feedpoint ofwhatever antenna is available. Thus, if one can distribute the radiosacross a surface in some random fashion, then the probability of therebeing a microradio at an antenna feedpoint is large for at least acertain percentage of the distributed radios.

Thus if it were possible to manufacture millions of microradiosinexpensively and distribute them across a surface, and assuming thesurface had some natural antenna such as a slot in a metal object, orthe dielectric as provided by the human or an animal body and the salttherein, or a ferromagnetic body, then one could obtain a sufficientlyusable signal that could be detected anywhere from numbers of feet tomany thousands of kilometers away, even with the minute power outputsfrom each of the individual microradios.

As a further consideration of power it will be appreciated that if thetransmit cycle for the radio could be reduced to a small portion of aprolonged charging cycle, then it would be possible to deploy suchnumbers of microradios without concern about power. This is due to therelatively long charging time available for the capacitors utilized foreach of the microradios versus the short amount of time necessary totransmit information.

Moreover, were it possible to reliably manufacture such microradios on avery large scale, there are applications in tagging and authenticationas well as anti-piracy and medical applications for which such tinymicroradios or ensembles of microradios could be used.

SUMMARY OF INVENTION

In the subject invention, there are improvements to the microradios andantennas themselves, a method of manufacture, systems for improvingparasitic powering and transmitter range, providing ensembles ofmicroradios, deployment of the ensembles in paints or other coatingscontaining microradios, aerosol sprays and liquid carriers, and a numberof applications for such radios.

As will be discussed, the subject invention involves improvements thatenhance the parasitic powering of the microradios so that they can bepowered by low-level ambient radiation or by direct radiation. Thisinvolves a powering/transmit cycle in which the power accumulates on acapacitor over a long period of time and is then read out to anoscillator just sufficient to sustain a brief modulated burst. This isunlike the RFID tags that act as smart retro-reflectors, which do nottransmit stored parasitically developed energy but rather immediatelyuse the power from incident radiation. What the subject parasiticpowering process does is to store energy derived from the environment.This permits separating the reader from the power source and gives riseto applications in which energy in the ambient can be used to power amicroradio. In this scenario, energy collected over time on a capacitoris used to power the microradio to occasionally put out a signal burstthat can be detected from a position removed from the parasitic sourceof power, such as by an overflying aircraft or satellite.

This powering scheme in which power is built up and stored on acapacitor utilizes a hysteretic switch that permits the microradio toabsorb ambient radiation over a long period of time until such time as acapacitor is sufficiently charged, after which the power from thecapacitor is coupled to the oscillator that emits a signal burst. Forthe purposes of this invention a “hysteretic switch” is a switch thatallows conduction of electrical current when a threshold voltage isreached and which continues to allow conduction of electrical currentuntil a second lower threshold voltage is reached, at which timeconduction ceases. One simple example of a hysteretic switch is atransistor that is forced into conduction when the capacitor voltagereaches some predetermined level. Thereafter the capacitor is coupled tothe oscillator of the microradio for the signal burst. In this case theoscillator is automatically and cyclically fired off. Because the exacttiming of the signal blast is not important in most cases, it isacceptable to signal only occasionally.

Since the detector or reader is separate from the power source, which inthis case is the ambient, one could surveil an area at a distance byflying over it and detecting the information occasionally transmitted bythe microradio.

Thus, rather than utilizing an RFID tag smart reflector that is able tomodulate its reflection, the subject hysteretic switch microradio offersconsiderable flexibility in its use. and makes it possible for very lowambient power to charge the microradio capacitor. When the microradiohas enough energy it can be automatically fired off to deliver arelatively large amount of power that can be detected by a distantcollector, unlike short-range RFID tags.

Moreover, it is part of the subject invention that it has been foundthat there is enough RF energy in the ambient to charge a microradiowhen operated in this regime, whether the ambient contains ambient RFenergy or ambient light.

Secondly, the subject microradios can be made particle sized andextremely inexpensively so that massive numbers can be distributed overa surface that either has some natural radiative structure or includesan antenna with a feedpoint. In the case of a naturally radiativestructure such as a metal surface with a slot or even a dielectriccomposed of animal tissue, dispersing a large number of microradios onthe structure results in at least some of the microradios beingoptimally located relative to the naturally radiating surface. In oneembodiment this means that some of the microradios will be located atthe feedpoints of what could constitute antennas of the naturallyradiating structure. The random distribution of the microradios acrossthe structure thus provides that at least some of the radios willoptimally couple ambient power to the microradio as well as providing anoptimal coupling of output power from the microradio to the ambient.Thus capacitor charging and radiating power are maximized by providingan ensemble of microradios.

By random microradio positioning, one has a faster charging time and alonger range for at least some of the microradios. This is because arandom distribution optimally places some microradios at an antennafeedpoint.

Moreover, when the radios are strobed so as to cause a coherentresponse, the output power is increased by n², such that even if poweredby the ambient, the radios can be heard from as far away as 10,000kilometers, e.g., satellites.

As another feature of the subject invention, the dispersing of theradios in the vicinity of the feedpoint of an already-existing antennamakes unnecessary the previously critical, costly placement of themicroradio at the antenna.

Additionally, with the use of the subject charging/transmission cyclesand the use of multiple particle-like microradios one can avoid therequirement for supercapacitors to increase power and range.

In short, one can provide RFID tags without the expense of accuratelyplacing a circuit on an antenna. Moreover, one can provide an RFID tagat 1/50^(th) the cost, with better range and better charging.

As part of the subject invention, one can manufacture the microradioparticles utilizing standard semiconductor processing techniques, inwhich the microradios can be patterned on a wafer, diced and distributedin a liquid or aerosol spray, or by dispersing, suspending or entrainingthe microradios in a suitable paint or other coating.

Additionally, the subject invention includes the option of providingspecialized antennas, including microscopic dipoles, microcoils, andmagnetic dipoles that can be fabricated in sizes commensurate with thesize of the microradio itself.

Furthermore, since all of the microradios use rectifiers and since therectifiers have diodes with input voltage thresholds, it has been foundthat providing active radiation at different frequencies results in acombined voltage output exceeding critical diode voltage thresholds.This further increases the ability to power the microradios with lowambient energy. Of course, all of the above techniques for moreeffectively coupling ambient energy into the microradios help toovercome the diode voltage thresholds.

Moreover, with the above-mentioned coherent operation of themicroradios, the n² power increase results in extremely long-rangedetectability.

In summary, such flexibility permits the use of even crude, inefficientmicroradios in a large number of applications, including RFID tags,location detection, authentication, remote sensing of large areas for,for instance, crop health and the presence of hazardous chemicals ormetallic objects, as well as applications involving sensing fluid flowparameters in both large pipes and in blood vessels, with medicalapplications including drug delivery through the activation of amicroradio, for instance attached to a molecular tag, with themicroradio being powered by ambient or directed radiation.

More specifically, the subject microradios are provided with capacitorleak protection afforded by the hysteresis switch, so that they can becharged up to store energy for release later in a burst. Specializedantennas can be used or natural radiative structures are available, suchas naturally occurring slot antennas; or human or animal tissue providesa dielectric radiative structure that contain enough salt to provide thedielectric with requisite conductivity.

Secondly, the subject invention includes deploying large numbers ofcrude, inexpensive microradios over a given area. With large numbers ofradios, although randomly distributed over a structure, there will beradios at favorable locations, in one embodiment at or close to anantenna feedpoint.

Moreover, ensembles of such radios can be used for a wide variety ofpurposes such as for authentication, identification, tracking and evenfor biomedical purposes such as biologic parameter sensing and drugdelivery.

Importantly, the microradios can be manufactured in a high-densityprocess on large wafers, after which they are separated into millions of10-micron particles, each serving as a microradio. These particlemicroradios can be programmed en masse and can be made to coherentlyradiate to provide an n² power boost that can extend the range of themicroradios up to 10,000 kilometers.

Most importantly, the cost of a million microradios manufactured asdiscussed above can be brought down to a dollar or less so thatproviding massive numbers of such radios is much less costly than usinga single microradio.

Thus the ability to provide improved microradios in a high-yield processpermits applications as diverse as spraying a field for crop healthinformation, or an area to detect a wide variety of terrorist threats.Both consumer and commercial parts of any kind can be sprayed with paintor other coating containing microradios for anti-piracy purposes, aswell as to provide for a much more cost effective RFID. Moreover,tracking and other functions are made feasible and inexpensive with theuse of the ensemble of microradios provided by the subject technology.

As will be appreciated, in the subject invention a parasitically poweredmicroradio is fabricated on a standard wafer, is cut and is madeavailable for deployment either in an aerosol, in a paint or othercoating containing microradios, or in some liquid dispersion such thatthe microradios can be distributed over a surface of interest, be it anelectronic or mechanical part, a field or other terrain; or in or oncontainers to track and count inventories, and for authenticationpurposes.

While some portions of each microradio may involve nanostructures suchas nanotube resonators or even carbon nanotube electronics, the subjectinvention is not limited to nanotechnology. Nor is it limited to aparticular high energy density capacitor technology.

The only requirement is that the microradio be parasitically powered.Thus it is the intent of the subject invention that one manufacture asmall circuit that is parasitically coupled to its environment.

In summary, a microradio is provided with a hysteretic switch to permitan optimum range increasing charging cycle, with the charging cyclebeing long relative to the transmit cycle. Secondly, an ensemble ofmicroradios permits an n² power enhancement to increase range withcoherent operation. Various multi-frequency techniques are used both forparasitic powering and to isolate powering and transmit cycles.Applications for microradios and specifically for ensembles ofmicroradios include authentication, tracking, fluid flow sensing,identification, terrain surveillance including crop health sensing anddetection of improvised explosive devices, biohazard and containmentbreach detection, and biomedical applications including the use ofmicroradios attached to molecular tags to destroy tagged cells when themicroradios are activated. Microradio deployment includes the use ofsuitable paints or other coatings, greases and aerosols. Moreover,specialized antennas, including microcoils, mini dipoles, and staircasecoiled structures are disclosed, with the use of nano-devices furtherreducing the size of the microradios.

For the purposes of this invention the term “microradio” means a radiohaving nano-size elements or dimensions up to a dimension of about 4mm×4 mm.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

These and other features of the subject invention will be betterunderstood in connection with the Detailed Description, in conjunctionwith the Drawings, of which:

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the subject microradio, which includesa rectifier, a hysteretic switch and an oscillator, coupled to anaturally radiative structure such that the microradio may be poweredparasitically and transmit its information back through the naturallyradiative structure;

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating the microradio of FIG. 1, ratherthan coupled to a naturally radiative structure, coupled to an antennafor improvement of the parasitic powering and the range of themicroradio;

FIG. 3 is a diagrammatic illustration of a miniaturized dipole coupledto the microradio of FIG. 1 or 2, showing that the length of theportions of the dipole are commensurate with the size of the microradio;

FIG. 4 is a diagrammatic illustration of a microcoil antenna for usewith the microradio of FIG. 2;

FIG. 5 is a diagrammatic illustration of a staircase antenna having anumber of turns about a high-μ core to provide a low profile antenna foruse in the microradio of FIG. 2;

FIG. 6A is a block diagram of a microradio that includes both amodulated oscillator and a receiver section detecting command signalsand for causing power to be applied to the oscillator after receipt of acommand signal;

FIG. 6B is a graph showing the timeline for use in parasiticallypowering the microradio of FIGS. 1 and 2, indicating a relatively longcharge time of about 1 second to impart about 1 microjoule to thereceiver of the microradio, which listens for approximately 1millisecond and dissipates one milliwatt, followed by a second 1-secondcharging interval, followed by powering the oscillator of themicroradio, again for 1 millisecond, whereby the hysteretic switchoperation of the microradio permits relatively slow parasitic chargingfollowed by a burst of energy either to permit the microradio to listento command signals or to fire off the oscillator of the microradio;

FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram of the hysteretic switch used in themicroradio of FIGS. 1 and 2, illustrating the firing of the switch basedon the gate voltage to one field effect transistor, coupled with asecond field effect transistor holding on the switch until the voltageacross the charging capacitor drops below a predetermined level;

FIG. 8 is a diagrammatic illustration of a dual frequency operation ofthe microradio in which energy is parasitically coupled to themicroradio at one frequency, whereas the microradio transmits at anotherfrequency, both utilizing the same antenna;

FIG. 9 is a block diagram of a multi-frequency charging system for themicroradios of FIGS. 1 and 2, illustrating different antenna paths tunedto different frequencies utilizing different diode detectors, theoutputs of which are summed and rectified to provide improved parasiticcharging of the final capacitor of the rectifier in the microradio;

FIG. 10 is a schematic diagram of a voltage multiplier usable as therectifier in the microradios of FIGS. 1 and 2, illustrating voltagemultiplier stages, each having its own capacitor, coupled to a finalstorage capacitor for the rectifier in which the voltage multiplierrectifier may be either coupled to the environment through a naturallyradiative structure or to an antenna;

FIG. 11A is a block diagram of a Colpitts oscillator used in the BFSKmodulation of a microradio, showing the switching between the outputs oftwo Colpitts oscillators under the control of a microcontroller formodulation purposes;

FIG. 11B is a block diagram of a BPSK modulator, including amicroprocessor for controlling the outputs to an antenna;

FIG. 12 is a diagrammatic representation of an invisible or nearlyinvisible microradio using molecular components for use in attaching toor coating the antenna used;

FIG. 13 is a diagrammatic representation of the invisible or nearlyinvisible microradio of FIG. 12 showing the use of a conductive adhesiveabout the module so that it will stick to an antenna surface and provideelectrical contact thereto;

FIG. 14 is a diagrammatic illustration of an electrode and nanowire aswell as the size thereof;

FIG. 15 is a schematic illustration of a multi-wall nanotube oscillationtechnique;

FIG. 16 is a scherhatic illustration of a doubly clamped diamond beamnonomechanical resonator;

FIG. 17 is a schematic illustration of a three-terminal nanotuberectifier;

FIG. 18 is a schematic illustration of a single-electron transmitterconstructed from gold electrodes and C60 nanoparticles;

FIG. 19 is a schematic illustration of an energy storage capacitorconsisting of two gold plates and a barium titanate dielectric layer;

FIG. 20 is a diagrammatic illustration of the layout of a nanoscalemicroradio;

FIG. 21 is a perspective three-dimensional layout of a compositemicroradio in accordance with the subject invention;

FIG. 22 is a diagrammatic illustration of the generation of a paint orother coating containing microradios, including the provision ofmicroradios in a carrier that is dispersed either by aerosol or paintsprayer onto a surface;

FIG. 23 is a diagrammatic illustration of the deployment of an aerosolover an area such as a wheat field or other crop for detecting crophealth;

FIG. 24 is a diagrammatic illustration of the deployment of microradiosover, for instance, an area that may have improvised explosive devices,with the area being overflown by a satellite that receives signals fromthe microradios from as much as 10,000 kilometers away;

FIG. 25 is a block diagram of a multi-user detector system capable ofbeing used when ensembles of microradios are deployed, illustrating theuse of a parameter estimation unit in front of a signal separation unit;

FIG. 26 is a diagrammatic illustration of the manufacture of largenumbers of microradios, using a wafer sliced into 100 millionmicroradios, with the microradios occupying a square area on the waferof 20 centimeters to produce 10,000 microradios along an axis;

FIG. 27 is a diagrammatic illustration of a microradio formed in themanufacturing process of FIG. 26, in which the microradio is providedwith a conductive adhesive coating about the microparasitic radio waferelement;

FIG. 28 is a block diagram of a nano-electromechanical resonator coupledto a four-diode rectifier for the filtering of input signals to therectifier of a microradio;

FIG. 29 is a diagrammatic illustration of an aerosol can into whichpaint or other coating containing microradios has been loaded,indicating that with the use of a gas propellant and a high vaporpressure binder, conductively coated microradios can be dispersed as anaerosol from the can;

FIG. 30 is a diagrammatic illustration of the authentication andtracking of a biohazard container within a further container, withunauthorized entry of the biohazard container being detected through theescape of microradios in an aerosol housed about the vial in thecontainer, assuming that the vial in the container has been violated,thus indicating the violation of either the carton or the vial throughthe escape of microradios, which are detected at some distance from thecontainer,

FIG. 31 is a diagrammatic illustration of the ability to accessdifferent classes or subclasses of the ensemble of microradios in whichtwo different classes or subclasses can be accessed through an accesscode generator coupled to a transmitter that transmits the access codesto selected classes or subclasses of microradios;

FIG. 32 is a diagrammatic illustration of the authentication and codingof a container with a paint or other coating containing microradios onthe lid of the container, with the escape of the contents of thecontainer also being determined due to the violation of the container;

FIG. 33 is a diagrammatic illustration of a pet tracking embodiment inwhich microradios are embedded in or attached to an animal to provide atag so that the animal can be traced;

FIG. 34 is a diagrammatic illustration of the authentication andtracking of an object such as a watch, in which a paint or other coatingcontaining micimadios is applied to the watch during manufacture, withthe radios being polled and the serial numbers thereof read out by areceiver and stored so as to be able to track and authenticate anobject;

FIG. 35 is a diagrammatic illustration of the utilization of microradioson a vehicle or container in which the microradios are tracked as thevehicle approaches a checkpoint through the utilization of transceiverantennas embedded on the road approaching the polling point;

FIG. 36 is a diagrammatic illustration of the sensing of fluid flowthrough the utilization of non-conductive conduits or pipes and theembedding of microradios in the fluid;

FIG. 37 is a diagrammatic illustration of the tagging of cancerousproteins with a molecule having associated with it a microradio, suchthat microradios containing molecules are injected into the body of apatient, followed by parasitic powering of the microradios from outsidethe human body; and,

FIG. 38 is a diagrammatic illustration of the powering activation andcurrent discharge of the microradio of FIG. 37 from a controller suchthat the current discharge diminishes or destroys the protein and thusthe cancer-causing agent in the patient of FIG. 37.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Referring now to FIG. 1 and prior to discussing applications ofmicroradios, in its simplest configuration the radio is parasiticallycoupled to the environment through a connection to a metal or dielectricstructure that functions as a naturally radiating structure, hereillustrated at 10. The microradio has an input 12 coupled to structure10, at which point a rectifier 14 rectifies RF energy or optical energyto be able to power a radio through a hysteretic switch 16 coupledbetween the rectifier and an oscillator 18. As will be described,oscillator 18 will transmit an information-bearing waveform. A varietyof analog and digital modulations may be employed, including frequencymodulation (FM), amplitude modulation (AM), binary phase shift key(BPSK) and binary frequency shift key (BFSK), among other possibilities.

It is the purpose of hysteretic switch 16 to toggle the power fromrectifier 14 to oscillator 18. In one embodiment, the output ofoscillator 18 is an encoded signal available at output 40 coupled backto structure 10 at point 42.

In operation, an RF or optical signal impinges on structure 10 and isrectified by rectifier 14 to charge its final capacitor. The capacitoris contained in the rectifier, or between the rectifier and thehysteretic switch. Once the incoming power is rectified and switch 16has fired, power is applied to oscillator 18, for instance over line 26.Thus, by projecting RF or optical energy onto structure 10, oscillator18 is powered and produces the required signal.

However, the amount of power that can be extracted from the environmentusing a structure 10 is usually not sufficient to power oscillator 18for an indeterminate length of time. Moreover, the diodes in rectifier14 have thresholds that must be overcome in order for the rectifier towork.

More particularly, when powering a microradio parasitically, one of thefirst and foremost considerations is the rectifier that takes the RF oroptical energy at the microradio and converts it into DC power. One ofthe challenges for rectifiers is that their diodes have a minimum onsetor threshold voltage. As a result one is limited in the forward link incharging the capacitors of the microradio if the detected energy isinsufficient to overcome the diode threshold. For instance, it is muchharder to charge a microradio than to listen to it or hear it. In otherwords, practical charging ranges for the radio capacitor are typicallymuch less than typical detection ranges for radio oscillatortransmissions. Were the two ranges comparable, it would be found thatpassive radio tagging range equations would be similar to a radar rangeequation in the sense that the power returned is proportional to thepower transmitted times the power reflected, resulting in a 1/r⁴dependence in which power received back at the transmitter isproportional to power transmitted divided by range to the fourth power.However, due to capacitor charging being less efficient, it is foundthat power received in the capacitor is proportional to powertransmitted divided by range squared, given that once the rectifierreceives sufficient power to enable forward diode conduction andcapacitor charging, the subsequent oscillator burst is well withindetection range. One therefore has to obtain some minimum voltage acrossthe input to the rectifier. Presently rectifiers require on the order of100 millivolts at the antenna input, but in the subject invention thereare two approaches to overcoming charging range limitations associatedwith the 100-millivolt threshold.

The first approach is to couple the microradio to a naturally radiatingstructure such as a metal object, or a dielectric material having someconductivity. A living organism can provide such dielectric materialbecause of its salt content. Coupling to a radiating structure in thismanner increases the effective antenna gain of the microradio, therebyincreasing the voltage level at the antenna input.

If, for instance, one wishes to keep track of metallic objects, one canconnect the antenna inputs of the microradios to the metallic skin of anobject, which serves as a naturally radiating structure. It has beenfound experimentally in one case that if one seeks to use amicro-antenna about the size of the microradio one can obtain a −4 dB ofgain, even though the microradio is a thousandth of a wavelength. It isknown from the G=4 pi A/lambda^2, that antenna gain is related toantenna area A. Given that the microradio antenna is so small, it isclear that the microradio has coupled into the metallic object in thiscase. Otherwise, the antenna gain would be about 4 pi( 1/1000)^2 usingthe above equation with an antenna area equal to (lambda/1000)^2.

An additional approach to increasing the detection range of themicroradios is accomplished through coherent operation of a large numberof microradios n, which results in an amplification of the transmittedsignal power by n² due to coherent combination of the electromagneticfields generated by each microradio transmitter. Moreover, theopportunity to increase gain is afforded when one uses microradios on anobject such as a metallic shell in such a way that the object to whichthe microradio functions as an antenna.

Other examples of naturally radiating structures are various parts ofvehicles. For instance, if one wants to track a car one can put amicroradio on the feed to the car antenna. However, attempting to placea microradio at the feedpoint of an antenna results in manymisadventures and proper placement is a rare occurrence. On the otherhand, with large numbers of microradios dispersed on a metallic autopart in a suitable paint or other coating in which microradios aresuspended or otherwise emplaced or entrained, if the part can functionas an antenna then microradio placement is not critical because some ofthe microradios will be located at an antenna feedpoint or feedpoints.

For instance, one can consider something like a car door that makes aslot antenna or perhaps even the bumper of a car that makes a horizontalmonopole antenna. Applying a suitable paint or other coating containingmicroradios to these surfaces naturally results in some microradiosbeing optimally placed.

As will be appreciated, there are a large number of instances where anindigenous material or object can function as an antenna.

A second approach to more effectively charging the rectifier is to usepulsed charging waveforms. Due to the exponential forward conductionproperties of diodes described elsewhere, increasing the input voltageto the rectifier diodes exponentially increases charge current to thecapacitor. Therefore, pulsed operation of the charging transmittergenerates more current into the capacitor than does steady stateoperation for the same average power level.

An additional approach to increasing the detection range of themicroradios is accomplished through coherent operation of a large numberof microradios n, which results in an amplification of the transmittedsignal power by n² due to coherent combination of the electromagneticfields generated by each microradio transmitter. Moreover, theopportunity to increase gain is afforded when one uses microradios on anobject such as a metallic shell in such a way that the object to whichthe microradio functions as an antenna.

Naturally Radiative Structures

As illustrated in FIG. 1, the power for the microradio is derived from astructure 10 that in one embodiment is a naturally radiating structure.Here it can be seen that the output 40 of oscillator 18 is coupleddirectly to this structure as illustrated at 42.

Note, the substrate over which the microradios are dispersed, if it canfunction as an antenna, results in much improved parasitic coupling. Thedisadvantage is that one has to study the geometry of the object one istagging in order to know where the opportune tagging spot is. Thus,placing a microradio on an object to obtain suitable gain is not alwaysan easy matter. However, by mass-producing thousands of theparticle-size microradios, when sprayed on an object one has an ensembleof returns from all the different microradios, some of which will be atnaturally occurring feedpoints, thus to create enough energy to powerthe microradios.

Naturally occurring radiative structures can include metal structureswith slits or slots in them, or metal structures that have anappropriate antenna length. Moreover, a naturally radiative structurecan include animal tissue, which because of its salt content providessufficient conductivity.

Thus, when a specialized antenna is not provided for each microradio, asone part of the subject invention one utilizes natural radiativestructures.

Specialized Antennas

On the other hand and as illustrated in FIG. 2, output 40 can beconnected to an antenna 50 at antenna feedpoint 52. The use of anantenna improves charging and transmission characteristics of themicroradio of FIG. 1 due to the gain of the antenna.

One approach to overcoming diode thresholds is to provide the microradiowith this specialized antenna. Rather than attempting to locate amicroradio precisely at the feedpoint of an antenna or depending onrandom distribution, one can power the microradios utilizing theparasitic paradigm by providing a small standalone antenna coupled tothe microradio. When one cannot ensure that the structure on which themicroradios are adhered will function appropriately as an antenna, onecan provide each microradio with its own antenna.

It is within the scope of the subject invention to utilize any of anumber of small dipole antennas that would be invisible or unobtrusive.

The antennas serve two purposes. First, the antenna receives ambient RFenergy or laser radiation in order to charge the capacitor on themicroradio. Second, the antenna radiates an electromagnetic signal whenthe microradio responds with a burst of transmitted information.

In one embodiment it has been found that it is possible to be able toefficiently couple energy into the microradios utilizing a dipoleantenna constructed from filamentary wires. One can also make the smallstandalone antenna using microcoils. One can typically achieve effectivegain numbers in the range of −40 or —30 dBi looking at these antennas asfree-space antennas. Loading the antennas with high-dielectric or highpermeability materials will improve antenna gain beyond these values.

Moreover, a magnetic dipole antenna can be formed in which the loop hasa number of microturns. In one embodiment this can be a microcoilstaircase with 10 to 20 turns on it. It is noted that the higher themagnetic permeability value μ of the material inside the coil, thehigher the gain.

As will be discussed, the antennas themselves can be fractions of awavelength such that their size matches the 10-micron size of thesmallest of the microradios. It has thus been found that such antennascan be dipoles, coiled antennas, monopoles or other small antennas. Inmany cases using high permeability materials such as ferromagneticmaterials or high dielectric materials such as barium titanate canimprove the microantenna efficiency.

More particularly, as illustrated in FIG. 3 it is possible to provide amicroradio 43, 10 microns-10 millimeters, with a dipole antenna having atadpole-like design with a 5-millimeter wire 45 extending in onedirection and optionally with another 5-millimeter wire 47 extending ina different direction. It is noted that the overall length of theseantennas is less than 10 millimeters and one could question their gainor efficiency at the frequencies involved.

However, it has been found that the dipole wires need not be elongatedas dictated by the operating frequency or even stretched out, but can bemade to conform to a compact shape such that one could maintain therelatively small size of the microradio and antenna combination.

The manufacture of such antennas along with the microradios in a highlydense, repeatable semiconductor process will be described hereinafter.However, if the microradios are manufactured with their own dedicateddipole antennas, then the gain of the system can be maximized.

Referring to FIG. 4, rather than utilizing the dipoles of FIG. 3, amicrocoil can be used as an antenna in which a coil 49 may be providedwith a high-p material 51 inserted for the purpose of causing themicrocoil to resonate at a desirable frequency without having to have anincreased diameter. The result is that a microcoil antenna may beprovided with a 0 to 3 dBi gain at f=2 GHz. It is noted that the higherthe p of the inserted material, the higher the efficiency of theantenna.

Referring to FIG. 5, one can provide a microcoil antenna in a staircaseversion as illustrated at 53, with 10 to 20 turns configured asillustrated.

The staircase is fabricated by successively depositing conducting andinsulating layers using a semiconductor fabrication process. Forexample, the insulating layer can be a standard silicon oxide layerwhile the conducting layer can be any deposited metallic material.

The purpose of the staircase antenna is to provide a coil antennageometry that is compatible with microelectronic fabrication techniques,resulting in an efficient miniature magnetic dipole antenna.

Charging/Transmit Cycle

Referring back to FIG. 1, assuming that there is enough power toovercome the thresholds of the diodes in rectifier 14, in one embodimentthere is a charging/transmit cycle protocol that involves the rectifierbeing charged for, for instance, one to two seconds, whereupon therectifier is coupled to oscillator 18 to power the oscillator toprovide, for instance, a millisecond burst. Thus it is possible withsuch a regime to utilize relatively inefficient microradios and to beable to provide enough energy to power the oscillator and attendantcircuitry for a burst of information.

If the oscillator is to cyclically broadcast its information, then itsimply does so when powered. If, however, in a charge, listen, charge,transmit cycle the microradio must wait for receipt of an activating orcontrol signal. Then when the charging threshold is met, themicroradio's receiver is briefly turned on. If there is an activationsignal received during this listening period, the capacitor is rechargedover a long cycle followed by activation of the oscillator to produce amicroburst. Note that external activation can occur by irradiating themicroradio with a laser pulse, or by an RF control signal.

Regardless of the external activation of the oscillator, it is thepurpose of the hysteretic switch 16 to allow the final capacitor withinrectifier 14 to charge up for a relatively long period of time beforehysteretic switch 16 goes into conduction and passes the power from thiscapacitor to oscillator 18. The result is a powering cycle, asillustrated at waveform 24, that causes the capacitor to charge up to athreshold point 26, at which the capacitor is rapidly discharged asillustrated at 48 through oscillator 18.

The result is that the charging interval, as indicated by arrow 30, ismuch longer than the transmit interval illustrated by double-ended arrow32.

Timeline

Central, however, to the ability to provide the microradios with theability to transmit over significant distances is the powering cycletimeline and the micro-receiver elements shown in FIGS. 6A and 6B.

Referring now to FIG. 6A, assuming for instance that one has a rectifier14, hysteretic switch 16 and an oscillator 18, this scenario would beuseful when one did not wish to have control signals to operate oractivate a microradio. However, if one wishes to have a control signalscenario, one needs to have the output of hysteretic switch 16 coupledthrough a single-pole double-throw switch 42 to, in the first instance,establish a listening time period., which is established by poweringreceiver 44. Upon the powering of receiver 44, the receiver is coupledto antenna 50 by virtue of circulator 52.

Upon receipt of command signals, receiver 44 is operably coupled tocontrol 46 to switch 42 to switch power to oscillator 18 so as toactivate oscillator 18 to provide a signal back through circulator 52 toantenna 50. Oscillator 18 may be modulated by a modulator 48 forproviding whatever information is required to be transmitted at thispoint, given the receipt of control signals for the microradio to do so.

Referring to FIG. 6B, here it can be seen that the timeline includes acharging period 55, which may be on the order of a second and whichallows a final capacitor in rectifier 14 to be charged, for instance, to1 microjoule. Thereafter, as illustrated at 57, there is a listeningportion of the timeline that may offer a short 1-microsecond to perhapsone millisecond listening time slot. The command receiver consumesapproximately one milliwatt of power to power the microradio's receiverfor the listening operation. The command period enables readerauthentication and timing synchronization with the microradio.

Thereafter, there is another one-second charging interval, hereillustrated at 59, followed by a short period 61 of approximately onemillisecond duration for the oscillator to generate a one-milliwattburst.

Thus one embodiment of the subject invention includes developing anoptimal charging/transmit cycle timeline in which one charges the finalcapacitor, for instance, for one second, after which one would listenfor command signals during one millisecond, again charging the capacitorfor one second and then powering the oscillator for one millisecond.

By use of this cycling one can charge the capacitor from the parasiticcoupling for relatively long periods of time, whereupon the device canlisten for instructions from the outside world and emit a short burst,followed by another charging period, and another burst. This chargingregime is very effective for parasitically powered microradios and isavailable for any microradio application.

Hysteretic Switch

Referring now to FIG. 7, a hysteretic switch° in one embodiment includestwo CMOS FET transistors in which a transistor 63, here labeled N1,senses the voltage at capacitor 64 by having its gate coupled to avoltage divider coupled between the capacitor and ground as shown byresistors 65 and 66. Note that a pull-up resistor 67 is provided. Notethat when the gate voltage V_(g) of transistor 63 is greater thanV_(thn), then the gate of PFET transistor 68 is such that transistor 68connects capacitor 64 to a load 69, which in this case is oscillator 18of FIGS. 1, 2 and 3. An FET transistor 70 keeps transistor 68 in itsconducting region to hold it on until capacitor 64 discharges below theuseful supply voltage level to the oscillator load 69.

In one embodiment it is the goal of the hysteretic switch to switch onwhen the input voltage is greater than, for instance, 1.5 volts. Note,it is desired that the rectified power provide up to 2 volts across theoutput capacitor, which in one embodiment is a 2 microfarad capacitor.

When the storage capacitor is being charged up, the hysteretic switch isopen. When the threshold or trip point is exceeded, the hystereticswitch connects the capacitor to the load, in this case the oscillator.The load then draws current from the capacitor and begins to dischargeit. In one embodiment, when the capacitor voltage drops below thethreshold voltage, the hysteretic switch stays on. When the capacitorvoltage drops below 1 volt, the switch disconnects the load from thecapacitor, the capacitor starts to charge up, and the cycle repeats.

Referring now to FIG. 7, a hysteretic switch in one embodiment includestwo CMOS FET transistors in which a transistor 63, here labeled N1,senses the voltage at capacitor 64 by having its gate coupled to avoltage divider coupled between the capacitor and ground as shown byresistors 65 and 66. Note that a pull-up resistor 67 is provided. An FETtransistor 68 connects capacitor 64 to a load 69, which in this case isoscillator 18 of FIGS. 1, 2 and 3. An FET transistor 70 keeps transistor68 in its conducting region to hold it on after a capacitor voltagethreshold is reached. Note that when the gate voltage V_(g) is greaterthan V_(thn), then capacitor 64 is dumped to load 69.

In one embodiment it is the goal of the hysteretic switch to switch onwhen the input voltage is greater than, for instance, 1.5 volts. Note,it is desired that the rectified power provide up to 2 volts across theoutput capacitor, which in one embodiment is a 2 microfarad capacitor.

When the storage capacitor is being charged up, the hysteretic switch isopen. When the threshold or trip point is exceeded, the hystereticswitch connects the capacitor to the load, in this case the oscillator.The load then draws current from the capacitor and begins to dischargeit. In one embodiment, when the capacitor voltage drops below 1 volt,the hysteretic switch turns off and the cycle repeats.

Note in the circuit of FIG. 7, transistor 68 is a PFET, with pull-upresistor 67 keeping this transistor off while the capacitor charges up.Transistor 63 is an NFET that senses when the capacitor voltage is highenough. Resistors 65 and 66 form a voltage divider that feeds the gateof NFET 63, which selects the trip point. Note the resistors must be ofhigh resistance so that the capacitor is not drained faster than it isbeing charged.

Transistor 70 is also an NFET that holds switch 68 on as capacitor 64discharges and provides the subject hysteresis. It is noted thattransistor 68 will not switch off until the load voltage drops belowtransistor 70′s threshold voltage, which in one embodiment isapproximately 0.5 volts.

While the circuit of FIG. 7 functions properly, the sub-thresholdleakage current in transistor 63 can in some instances keep capacitor 64from charging up to 1.5 volts. In order to solve this problem one mustkeep the leakage current well below one micro-amp until the capacitor 64voltage is above 1.5 volts.

To minimize the sub-threshold leakage problem, there are several circuitdesigns, one of which is suggested by E. Vittoz et al. in the followingIEEE Journal article: Vittoz, E.; Fellrath, J., “CMOS analog integratedcircuits based on weak inversion operations,” Solid-State Circuits, IEEEJournal of, Vol. 12, no. 3 pp. 224-231, June 1977. Additionally, it ispossible to utilize bipolar transistors as can be seen in the 1965 IEEEarticle by Gaertner, W W., entitled “Nanowatt devices,” Proceedings ofthe IEEE, vol. 53, No. 6, pp. 592-604, June 1965. A further solution isto utilize an auxiliary capacitor isolated from capacitor 64 that isdriven by the same source and which powers the hysteretic switch controlcircuit. Moreover, one can deliberately bias all FETs to operate atnano-amp levels where the functions provided by the circuit can operatewith Idd's below 1 micro-amp.

It is a feature of the subject invention due to the charging regimesdiscussed above that the storage capacitor, while preferably asupercapacitor, need not be one. The reason in the past for superstorage capacitors was to be able to store enough power in a smallenough physical capacitor to be able to power the traditional RFIDtag-type radios.

However, with the use of the hysteretic switch it has been found thatstorage on more conventional capacitors, even though resulting in acrude microradio, nonetheless provides sufficient output.

Thus a charging regime that uses a hysteretic switch and takes placeover multiple seconds or minutes compared to a microburst from anoscillator permits smaller, less dense storage capacitors to be used.

It is this type of regime that enables relatively crude transceivers todevelop enough power to extend range. This is unlike an RFID tag, whosepower is derived parasitically but which is used immediately so as tofunction as a smart reflector.

In order to achieve the charging/transmit cycle, the hysteretic switch'sfunction is to keep the final capacitor of the rectifier from leakingtowards the oscillator such that power is allowed to build up in thefinal capacitor of the rectifier for later dumping into the oscillator.

While several types of hysteretic switches are possible, the simplest,of course, is to provide a transistor coupled to the final capacitor andto bias the transistor in such a way, either naturally or with circuitelements, so that it goes into conduction only after a predeterminedcharge has built up on the final capacitor. Thereafter it remains inconduction until the oscillator has drained a sufficient amount ofvoltage from the capacitor and the capacitor voltage output drops belowthe point at which conduction is no longer sustainable.

Dual Frequency Operation

Referring to FIG. 8, it is possible to charge rectifier 14 byirradiating antenna 50 with energy having a frequency f₁, with therectifier having a filter 54 at f₁ interposed between feedpoint 52 andthe rectifier. In one embodiment, oscillator 18 may be made to oscillateat a different frequency, namely frequency f₂, as illustrated by filter56, such that the oscillator transmits electromagnetic radiation at adifferent frequency than the energy, is received in order to charge upthe final capacitor of rectifier 14. One reason for doing this is toincrease the efficiency or range of the microradio by avoiding leakingthe transmitted energy back into rectifier 14.

Another reason for providing the two-frequency system is to simplify thedesign of the microradio detector, or reader. Specifying differentfrequencies for charging and transmission allows for a less complexmicroradio reader receiver design. This is because if the charging andtransmit signals are on the same frequency, they will interfere.Isolation and co-site interference cancellation would required toseparate the strong cochannel charging signal being transmitted by thereader from the much weaker signal returned by the microradio.

It has been found that if f₁ is offset by between 0.9 f₂-to 1.1 f₂,these frequencies are sufficiently different to derive the abovebenefits.

Thus, for more efficient capacitor charging, in one embodiment chargingcurrent is provided by charging with RF energy at one frequency, whereasthe information derived from the radios is derived by listening to anadjacent frequency. In one embodiment, for instance, the chargingfrequency is approximately from 0.9 to 1.1 of the listening frequency.

Multiple-Frequency Charging

Referring now to FIG. 9, it has also been found that the microradio canbe more efficiently charged by providing, for instance, an array ofantenna outputs 71, 72, 73 and 74 outputted to an antenna 80 and eachtuned to a different frequency, here shown as f₁, f₂, f₃ and f₄. Thesecan be provided with corresponding delay elements , 75, 76, 77 and 78,the outputs of which are summed at 79.

The result at rectifier 14 in terms of the charging of the finalcapacitor thereof is that a tag reader that is limited in peak transmitpower can sequence between a multiplicity of transmitted chargingfrequencies. The frequency sequence and the delays are arranged so thatthe power transmitted at each frequency arrives simultaneously at thesummer input. This technique takes a continuous wave charging signal andgroups it into a set of pulsed inputs to the rectifier. The reason fordoing so is that diodes are exponentially inefficient devices. That is,the conduction current through the rectifier diodes drops exponentiallywith respect to input voltage. By pulsing the charging inputs, thediodes operate in a more efficient conduction regime. Even though thenet duty cycle is less than for a continuous charging input, the smallertotal charging time is more than compensated by more efficient diodeconduction during the higher energy pulsed inputs. The resultant outputof oscillator 18 is applied to a transmit antenna 83 in the mannerpreviously described.

Thus in one embodiment, it is possible to rectify different frequenciesof RF radiation through different antenna outputs. This means that withmultiple frequencies irradiating the ensemble of microradios, the amountof power to the diodes in the rectifier is increased, thus to exceeddiode thresholds and to improve diode conduction efficiency.

Voltage Multiplier

Referring now to FIG. 10, in one embodiment rectifier 14 is a voltagemultiplier incorporating diodes 81, 82, 84, 86, 88 and 90 coupled inseries to antenna 92, feedpoint 94.

Each stage of the voltage multiplication includes a capacitor 96 toground between the output of a previous diode and the next diode such asindicated at points 98. The output of diode 90 is directly coupled tofinal storage capacitor 100, where capacitors 102 and 104 accumulaterespectively the outputs of diodes 82 and 86 such that the charges oncapacitors 102 and 104 are applied across storage capacitor 100 andground. The operation of voltage multipliers is well known, and allresult in a charge on a final storage capacitor.

Modulation for the Microradio

Referring now to FIG. 11A, one of the most easily implemented modulationschemes takes oscillator 18 and divides it up into two Colpittsoscillators, namely oscillators 130 and 132, each operating at adifferent frequency. With such a scheme one can control the outputs ofoscillators 130 and 132 via a switch 134 under the control of amicrocontroller 136 to provide a BFSK modulation scheme in which theoutput of switch 134 is coupled to an antenna 138 or coupled to theenvironment through a naturally radiating structure.

Alternatively, as illustrated in FIG. 11B, one can have a BPSK modulatorin accordance with the Taub and Schilling design shown there.

In this embodiment, an oscillator 140 opened up by a hysteretic switch142 generates a sinusoidal output. One pathway for the output goesstraight to a switch 144. The other goes through a 180-degree phaseshifter 146. A microcontroller 148 controls the switch to select whichoutput couples to an antenna 150 or a naturally radiating structure.What will be appreciated is that whatever modulation scheme is used forthe microradio, information can be transmitted from one or more of themicroradios in accordance with sensed data or simply in accordance witha registration code so that one could identify the individual microradioproviding the transmission. This is quite similar to RFID tag-type ofregistrations that, as will be seen, can be manufactured directly intothe microradio at the time of manufacture.

Moreover, modulation of the radio may be accomplished by using twoColpitts oscillators, one resonating at one frequency and another at adifferent frequency, thus to provide the mark and spaces to betransmitted by the microradio. For this purpose one could also use aTaub and Schilling BPSK modulator.

For the purpose of this invention, a “Colpitts oscillator” will beconsidered to be a radio frequency (RF) oscillator that uses a single,untapped inductor with a combination of two fixed capacitors in seriesconnected in parallel with the inductor. A “Binary Frequency Shift Keyed(BFSK) modulator” is a modulator comprised of two distinct oscillatorsand a switch selecting between the oscillators depending upon whetherthe data bit is a mark or a space. A “Taub and Schilling Binary PhaseShift Keyed (BPSK) modulator” is a modulator which has an oscillator, adirect path to a switch, and a 180° phase shift path to a switch,wherein the switch selects between the two paths depending upon whetherthe data bit is a mark or a space.

As will be seen, the ability to provide a modulated signal from such amicroradio permits a wide variety of applications described above.

Nanoradio Implementation

More particularly and referring now to FIG. 12, a microradio is shownutilizing nano-electronic components. Here microradio 210 is comprisedof electrodes 222 which connect the circuits within a module to aconductive adhesive coating 224 which when deployed to an antennaconnects the internal circuits of the module to the antenna.

In cases where a protective coating prevents direct conductive couplingwith the target antenna, electrical coupling is possible usingcapacitive, inductive or radiative techniques, usually at the cost ofgreater insertion loss and consequent higher stored energy requirements.

For this purpose an antenna coupling 226 is utilized to couple theradiated energy from the antenna to a rectifying circuit 228 which maybe a nanotube rectifier incorporating a single electron transistor. Theoutput of the rectifying circuit is coupled to a capacitor 230 which isconstructed from thin plates as are used to fabricate nano-electrodes,with the capacitor in turn coupled to an oscillator/amplifier 232. Thecapacitor includes a switch that closes upon receipt of a command signalin order to activate the oscillator. Oscillator/amplifier 232 mayinclude a nanowire resonant tunnel diode or a transistor for RFpurposes, or a high efficiency quantum dot LED or a small laser, forexample, a quantum cascade laser for infrared purposes. In theillustrated embodiment, the output of the oscillator/amplifier isdelivered to an antenna coupler 234 that is connected to electrode 222to couple out the signal available at the output to the conductiveadhesive coating 224.

The device thus formed is a parasitic device that derives its power fromrectifying the RF energy at the surface of an antenna. In the IR case,the rectifying circuit may also be utilized to rectify optical energy tocharge capacitor 230, or it may rectify radio frequency energy from anearby radio transmitter used for communications or radar.

The second part of the microradio includes a command channel which is toreceive signals to activate the radio and for this purpose an antennacoupler 240, which may include nano-electrodes or nanowires, and couplessignals from a conductive adhesive 224 to a command channel frequencydetector 242 which is in turn coupled to controller 218. Controller 218,upon receipt of an authorizing signal, activates a switch signal 228 todischarge the capacitor 230 to power oscillator 232, thereby to generatethe signal. This signal is applied through antenna coupling 234 toelectrode 222 and thus to conductive adhesive layer 224, which in turndirectly couples the output of the oscillator/amplifier to the antennato which it is connected.

It will be noted that command channel detector 242 may be implemented asa frequency detector. This implementation is especially compatible withdesigns intended to minimize parts by using common apertures for commandreception and for monitoring other transmitters.

Referring to FIG. 13, each of the microradios 210 is illustrated havingthe conductive adhesive 224 coupled to an electrode 222 that exists atthe base of the module. Thus, the encapsulation of the modules in aconductive material such as a conductive grease renders the moduleattachable to any surface it contacts and more importantly a surface ofan antenna.

If on the other hand an optical system is used, then an optical couplerlayer surrounds microradio 210, with the optical coupler layer bothparasitically receiving light energy from a target light source and atthe same time injecting light energy elsewhere.

As mentioned above, in one embodiment the command receiver consists ofan antenna coupling that couples radiation incident on the antenna tofrequency detector 242 tuned to the command link frequency, as shown inFIG. 12. The frequency detector is kept to a simple pulse detector inorder to facilitate implementation at the nanometer scale. Pulsesdetected by the frequency detector 242 are output to controller 218,with a simple pulse pattern being provided as a rudimentary command set.As will be appreciated, frequency detectors can conserve command linkpower if they support spread spectrum modulation.

In operation, switch 228 discharges capacitor 230 drivingoscillator/amplifier 232. The generated power is delivered directly intothe antenna through coupling 234.

What is now discussed is how nanotechnology can reduce the size of thecomponents in the module shown in FIG. 12 so that the module isinvisible to the unaided eye.

Antenna Coupling

Assuming that the microradio shown in FIG. 12 is placed directly on anantenna, a conductor must extend from the device to the radiatingsurface. Much recent work has been done on developing electrodes withnanowires for electrical conduction. See, for example, Khondaker andYao. In this reference and as shown in FIG. 14, a pair of 500 nmelectrodes fabricated with standard optical lithography are connected togold nanowires with diameters ranging between 5 nm and 50 nm. Thesenanowires can be connected to nanoscale devices, providing an interfacecoupling the microradio to the antenna through the small electrodes andconductive adhesive 224. A chemical agent such as conductive adhesive224 bonds the electrode to an antenna. In a separate reference, Thong etal. fabricated tungsten nanowires with diameters less than 4 nm. Such anelectrode and wire is shown in FIG. 14 by a 500 nm electrode 270 coupledto a 50-nm nanowire 272.

Frequency Detector

Nanomechanical resonators are actively developed by many groupsincluding NASA and the Caltech Jet Propulsion Laboratory. As can be seenin FIG. 15, nanotubes 276 formed in multiple concentric tubes 278 tendto oscillate at near-gigahertz frequencies. These multi-walled nanotubesare just nanometers in diameter. In 2000, John Cumings and Alex Zettl ofthe University of California at Berkeley showed that after peeling openone end of a multiwalled tube, the inner tubes 276 could slide in andout with very low friction. The calculations also demonstrated that thevan der Waals force, which attracts all neutral atoms to one anotherthrough electrostatic attraction due to molecular polarization, causedthe inner nanotubes 276 to be pulled back inside the sheath of outertubes 278. These tubes can be used as receivers sensitive to highfrequency electromagnetic signals, resonating in time to the incomingelectromagnetic wave.

As shown in FIG. 16, while oscillating multi-walled nanotubes remaintheoretically attractive, Sekaric et al. at Cornell and NRL recentlybuilt and operated a nanomechanical resonant structure innanocrystalline diamond with a resonant frequency of 640 MHz. The deviceQ factors were about Q=f/Δf=2400-3500. The device size includes adiamond beam 280 supported between two clamps 282 spaced apart by 2 μm.

Charge Switch/Rectifier

One attractive aspect of a micrciradio is that it can draw powerparasitically from a host antenna. No internal power source is required.Power is drawn from the host antenna whenever it transmits by using anantenna coupling feeding into a rectifier that charges a capacitor. Asshown in FIG. 17, nanotube rectifiers have been demonstratedexperimentally by Papadopoulos et al. Here it can be seen thatmultiwalled nanotubes 284 are joined together at one end 286, with theirother ends 288 coupled to metallic leads 290. Current flow is indicatedby arrow 292. Recent calculations by Meunier et al. showed that theone-way current flow observed experimentally is due to the critical roleplayed by the metallic contacts in the rectification process. Theseauthors state that rectification is possible with a suitably constructedtwo-terminal device.

Switch

Referring to FIG. 18, a transistor switch is provided through asingle-electron transistor. Wu et al. have recently fabricated asingle-electron transistor that is about 400 nm on a side. Here thetransistor is composed of drain 294, source 296 and gate 298, with thebiasing as shown. Note that C60 describes a ball-shaped carbon molecularstructure known as a fullerene. The single-electron transistor has agreat advantage in low power consumption and high packing density. Bycombining advanced electron-beam lithography and nanophased-materialsynthesis techniques, Wu et al. built and tested a single-electrondevice with an gold-colloidal/fullerene island. The gate electrode tunesthe potential of the electrode islands.

Capacitor

A capacitor is needed to store energy for the microradio. As illustratedin FIG. 19, using thin film and nanofabrication technology, it ispossible to make a very small parallel plate capacitor. Here one has aBaTiO₃ layer 300 sandwiched between Au conducting layers 302. Nanowires304 are connected to layers 302. In one embodiment, the energyrequirement is dominated by the need, for instance, to transmit tenmicrowatts for one millisecond from the microradio tag. As a result, thecapacitor must store only 10 nJ of energy. The energy stored in thecapacitor is given by 1/2CV². Assuming that the capacitor can be chargedto a few volts, the capacitance of the nanocapacitor must be about 10nF. The formula for the capacitance of a parallel plate capacitor isC=0.0885ε_(r) A/t(van Valkenberg, p 6-14), where C is the capacitance in pF, ε_(r) is thedielectric constant relative to air, A is the parallel plate area in cmand t is the plate spacing in cm. Using a ferroelectric material likebarium titanate (BaTO₃), dielectric constants as high as 11,000 ispossible. Within a 10 nm BaTO₃ layer deposited between two conductingelectrode plates, the required area is found from10×10³=10³ A/10⁻⁶.Solving for A:A=10⁻⁵cm².

The length of a plate side is therefore 3×10⁻³ cm or 30 μm. Thisdimension could be reduced to 3 μm by stacking one hundred plates ordistributing one hundred capacitors over the energy storage component.Note that the capacitor is the largest of the components for the module.Care must be taken to ensure that the BaTiO3 or other material isdeposited uniformly so that holes do not develop that will short out thecapacitor.

Controller

A device containing logic and memory is necessary to control the variouscomponents in the microradio. It could consist of a few logic and memoryelements or could be as sophisticated as a microcontroller. Work in thisdomain is exemplified by the work of Wu et al. One example of amicrocontroller may be implemented with single electron transistors andmemory cells. Another is nanometer-scale microprocessor development workat Intel (Bohr) and elsewhere (Wong et al.).

The applications targeted by molecular electronics, Moletronics,programs fall into two principal areas, both of which emphasize circuitarchitecture:

As to logic devices, the design, synthesis, and testing of twointerconnected molecular logic gates connected to the outside worldproduce a correct truth table. The devices operate at room temperature,and the demonstrated configuration is scaleable to densities of greaterthan 10¹² gates per square centimeter.

As to memory devices, the design, synthesis, and testing of low-power,high-speed circuit architectures for high-density, terabit-levelmemories is based on molecular electronic devices. The devices have afunctional 16-bit molecular memory connected to the outside world at adensity of 10¹⁵ bits per cubic centimeter. The molecular memory iscapable of performing a storage function at room temperature that isbistable and reversibly driven from one state to the other by an outsidesignal.

While these microprocessors are difficult to produce, an interimsolution uses nanoscale CMOS with devices in the 10-100 nm size regimeas described by Wong et al.

Bohr discusses other approaches to logic elements, including carbonnanotube FETs described by Bachtold at al. Bachtold et al. haveconstructed and demonstrated functioning logic elements including anSRAM memory cell using nanotubes.

Huang et al. built and demonstrated functioning FETs and logic elementsusing combinations of Si and GaN nanowires. Dimensions are on the orderof molecular sizes, with on-off current ratios around 10⁵.

Single-electron transistors have been briefly discussed. Theirdimensions are around one nanometer, using quantum dots. Chen et al.numerically simulated a functionally complete set of complementary logiccircuits based on capacitively coupled single-electron transistors(CSETs). The family included an inverter/buffer stage, as well astwo-input NOR, NAND, and XOR gates, all using similar tunnel junctions,and the same dc bias voltage and logic levels. Maximum operationtemperature, switching speed, power consumption, noise tolerances, errorrate, and critical parameter margins of the basic gates have beenestimated. When combined with the data from a preliminary geometricalanalysis, the results indicate that implementation of the CSET logicfamily for operation at T˜20 K will require fabrication of structureswith ˜2-nm-wide islands separated by ˜1-nm-wide tunnel gaps. Getting thedevice to operate at room temperature requires smaller islands.

It is also possible to build still smaller transistors using quantum-dotcellular automata. Orlov et al. built a micron-scale device that istheoretically predicted to work at room temperature if scaled down to ananometer.

Finally, others are exploring single-molecule transistors. See, forexample, Reed. In addition to the extreme degree of miniaturization, abenefit to molecular-scale electronics is the capability forself-assembly through chemical synthesis.

Trigger

The trigger contains elements that have already been discussed. Somelogic, memory and switching are needed to arm the trigger, monitorreceiver output lines, possibly operate a timer and to switch on themicroradio.

Oscillator and Amplifier

An oscillator and transmitter are needed to drive electrical currentfrom the microradio into its antenna. One approach is to use ananomechanical resonator in a resonant tank circuit. The electricaloutput is amplified through a carbon nanotube FET, nanowire FET or someother small structure capable of coupling to the oscillator. This deviceis in turn amplified by a small CMOS FET or other device capable ofdelivering about 1 μW output power to the coupled antenna. This 1 μWoutput power is found by calculating the minimum power needed to receivemicroradio transmissions at distances comparable to feasible tagcharging distances.

Another approach is to use a nanowire resonant tunnel diodes. Björk etal. fabricated a nanowire resonant tunneling diode from semiconductornanowhiskers. Device size is about 40-50 nm diameter whiskers on aSiO₂-capped silicon wafer.

Based on these component estimates, it is possible to lay out afootprint estimate for the nanoscale microradio. FIG. 20 shows a2000×2500 nm device 400 containing a complete microradio, includingcommand receiver, rectifier and transmitter. The size is predominated bythe energy storage capacitor 402, the controller 404 and the threecoupling electrodes 406. Power dissipation and consumption are notissues as energy is drawn parasitically from the antenna, even betweenoscillator bursts. Weight is estimated at a few picograms (10⁻¹² grams)and the size is 2500 nm×2500 nm, clearly invisible to the unaided eye.Note that when embodied in nanoscale components, rectifier 408,frequency detectors 410, oscillator/amplifier 412 and trigger 414 do notcontribute significantly to overall size. The two elements primarilydetermining device size are the energy storage capacitor and the antennacoupling electrodes.

A three-dimensional view is shown in FIG. 21. The design has two layers420 and 422. The primary layer 420 holds most of the electronics. Thesecond layer 422 is allocated for two functions. First, some sort ofbonding agent is needed above the electrodes to ensure good contact withthe target antenna. This contact can be mechanical, chemical,electrochemical, or some combination. The rest of the second layerprovides additional room for a bank of energy storage capacitors.

What is provided by the subject invention is a crude, inexpensive,unobtrusive microradio whose non-optimal response can be compensated forboth by the numbers of microradios and by having an exceptionally largeaperture, high-power amplifier on the microradio reader so that largeamounts of power can be projected towards the microradio ensemble tocharge the inefficient small radios.

Massive Deployment Applications Paint and Aerosol Dispersion

Referring now to FIG. 22, because of the possibility of making massivenumbers of microradios, programming them and distributing them, it ispossible to enable a large number of applications that could not beserviced utilizing single microradios.

In one embodiment one carries a slurry of microradios in a carrier asshown at 500 and supplies them in one embodiment to a paint sprayer 502,which forms a cloud of paint droplets 504 containing microradios thatimpinge upon a surface 506. This technique, may be used to coat manytypes of surfaces, including individual parts, vehicles, or otherarticles that require some kind of microradio assist, either intracking, authentication, identification, sensing or the like.

As shown in FIG. 23, an aircraft 508 such as a crop duster may deploy afog 510 of microradios entrained in an aerosol over the ground 512, withthe microradios in one embodiment providing sensors with crop healthinformation transmitted to a receiving antenna. Here the crop duster maybe provided with a radio antenna, such as microwave horn 514, which cantransmit powering signals to the ground as illustrated at 516, whereuponreturn signals with information on them are transmitted towards aircraft508 as illustrated at 518.

Assuming that the microradios have suitable sensors, the same aerosolmassive deployment of microradios can be used, for instance, indetection of improvised explosive devices, with the aircraft being ableto power the microradios on the ground from, for instance, a distance of100 feet, and receive the return signals.

Additionally and as will be discussed, as shown in FIG. 24, a satellite520 may be used to overfly an area on the ground 522 and assuming that apaint or other coating containing microradios or aerosol-dispersedensemble of microradios is available, with coherent processes that willbe described, microradios if powered either by the ambient or some otherparasitic means can be detected by the satellite at a distance of, forinstance, 10,000 kilometers. Here the ensemble of microradios is shownby dots 523.

Coherent Operation and Multi-User Detection

Referring now to FIG. 25, when an ensemble of microradios is deployedeither in a paint or other coating containing microradios or by aerosolprojection, assuming that the radios are all operating on the samefrequency due to the fact of their manufacture and due to the inabilityto easily program each of the microradios with a different operatingfrequency, multi-user detection techniques are employed. Multi-userdetection techniques in general permit the demodulation of signals thatare transmitted on the same frequency and using the same modulationtype. It has been found that multi-user detection techniques such adescribed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,947,505 to Rachel E. Learned entitled“System For Parameter Estimation and Tracking of Interfering DigitallyModulated Signals,” assigned to the assignee hereof, and U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 09/923,709 filed Aug. 7, 2001 to Rachel Learnedentitled “Method For Overusing Frequencies to Permit SimultaneousTransmission of Signals From Two or More Users on the Same Frequency andTime Slot,” as well as U.S. Pat. No. 6,839,390 to Diane Mills entitled“Voting System For Improving the Performance Of Single-User DecodersWithin an Iterative Multi-User Detection System.” Other multi-usertechniques are described by Robert MacLeod in U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 10/105,918 filed Mar. 25, 2002 entitled “System For DecreasingProcessing Time In an Iterative Multi-User Detector System,” as well asU.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/134,330 filed Apr. 29, 2002 by DianeMills entitled “Method and Apparatus For Random Shuffled Turbo MultiuserDetector.”

What will be seen from this suite of multi-user detector cases is that,in a multi-user detection system in which interfering signals arepurposely allowed to exist, a parameter estimation unit can be providedthat utilizes signal processing for determining the channel transferfunction for each received signal, including the received power, phaseof the oscillator, timing offset relative to the base station clockcarrier frequency, carrier frequency offset and a number of multi-pathreplicas and delays for each replica, with the system providingreal-time uninterrupted estimates of these parameters required by thesignal separation unit.

Note that multi-user detection is described by S. Verdu in a bookpublished by the Cambridge University Press in 1998.

Note that it is the purpose of the multi-user detection system utilizinga parameter estimation unit to be able to derive channel parameters thatuniquely distinguish the characteristics of each individual signalregardless of the fact that the signals exist in the same communicationsbandwidth and at the same instant in time. These parameters are requiredby any signal separation system for highly loaded or overloaded systemsof users and in general include, for each signal, the channel transferfunction comprised of the received power, the phase of the oscillatorthat generated each received signal, the timing offset relative to basestation clock, any frequency offset of the carrier, and the structure ofthe multi-path replicas.

As described in this patent, the received power of the signals variessubstantially from burst to burst, which means that the parameterestimation becomes somewhat difficult. Likewise the phase of theoscillator can also vary from burst to burst, as can the timing offset,which is the variance of when the signals are to be received in aparticular timing slot of the communications system. Conversely, theburst length is usually known to within a fraction of a symbol period.Not only can all of these parameters change on a burst-by-burst basis,the frequency of the carrier can also change, most notably due toDoppler shifts and thermal drift.

The result is that signal separation become increasingly difficult inthe changing environment where a number of the microradios are trying tocommunicate with the base station on the same channel.

Note, for multi-user detection systems there is a need to be able todynamically adapt to the changing signals occasioned by the fact thatone cannot dictate the fixed nature of the transmitters and to the factthat the power adjustment for each of the transmitters in one embodimentis adjusted by the base station, sometimes on a burst-by-burst basis.This case is the same when multi-user detection is applied tomicroradios.

Moreover, it is important that a multi-user detection system be able tooperate with various coding schemes and various error interfaces.

In this patent, in order to be able to accommodate multiple interferingsignals on the same communication channel in which the signals arepurposely allowed to interfere with one another, to be able to makemaximum use of a traffic channel, initial estimates are made of variousparameters utilizing the interference-free receive signal on anacquisition channel and the usual traffic channel training sequencesthat are transmitted to identify each mobile user and to set up timingfor the burst transmission from the microradio. In the case ofmicroradios, acquisition channels may be defined by individuallyaddressing radios in order to obtain a comparatively uninterferedtransmission from the microradio. In this case, many parameters can beestimated and stored for future detections. Such an approach would be ofmost value for embedded sensor applications and other applications wheremultiple interrogations of the same radio are most desirable.

It is a feature of the Learned invention that with the estimate ofvarious parameters, signal separation can in fact take place.

Not only is the multi-user detection system usable with various codingschemes, it is also usable with the BFSK modulation scheme for themicroradios. As can be seen in FIG. 25, each of the microradios, hereillustrated at 524, transmits to a transceiver 525, which is utilizednot only to parasitically power the microradios but is used to receivethe transmission from the microradios.

Each of the microradios has certain characteristics even though they aretransmitting on the same frequency at the same time. Thesecharacteristics are coupled to a parameter estimation unit 526, whichthrough processes described in the Learned patent provide estimates ofpower of each of the signals, oscillation phase of each signal, timingoffset relative to the transceiver clock, carrier frequency offset andmulti-path structures. Having these parameters estimated, one can useeither conventional multi-user detection techniques in signal separationunit 527 or more sophisticated signal separation techniques described inthe aforementioned patents and patent applications.

It is important to note that if each of the microradios in an ensembleof microradios transmits at a different time, then it is possible todemodulate the information content from an individual microradio.Timing, however, for such a read-out of the microradios is somewhatproblematic due to the fact that it may not be easy to control when eachof the microradios transmits. Thus time division multiplexing, whilepossible with a paint or other coating containing microradios oraerosol-dispersed ensembles of microradios, is not as robust as would beliked.

On the other hand, it is possible through transmissions from transceiver525 to issue control signals to the microradios to have the microradiostransmit coherently, meaning that they are on and off at the same timeand transmit on the same frequency. Using this controlling technique, itis even possible to assign time slots to each microradio so that theytransmit at separate times. However, multi-user detection techniques maybe preferable in cases where it is possible to use such sophisticateddigital demodulation techniques to separate interfering signals.

While it would be thought that it would be impossible to disambiguatethe signals or separate them, the aforementioned multi-user detectiontechniques when applied to BPSK or other modulation schemes utilized bythe microradios permits the demodulation of all of the coherentlyactuated microradios.

Thus even if the radios are coherently operated, the multi-userdetection techniques provide a way to separate out the signals and toprovide a readout of the information from each of the microradios.

Even if the microradios are all transmitting the same information, it isnonetheless important to be able to utilize multi-user detectiontechniques. It is noted that each of the microradios is provided at thefactory with a unique serial number, primarily to permit identificationof the signals from each of the individual microradios. This being thecase, even though the information from the microradios may be the same,the identity of the microradios is still important.

Thus coherent operation may be important for the above-mentioned crophealth scenarios, improvised explosive device scenarios, or theidentification and tracking of objects such as vehicles, animals or anyplace where a single microradio will not function properly.

It is also possible with coherent operation of the microradios toprovide the aforementioned power augmentation by a factor of n², where nis the number of microradios transmitting coherently, so that, forinstance, ensembles of microradios, rather than having to be detected atclose range, can be detected either by overflying aircraft or in somecases by satellites at 10,000 km.

Manufacture

As to the manufacturing of the microradios, they can be manufactured on,for instance, a 200-millimeter wafer and can be chemically scribed andbroken up to provide almost infinitesimally small particles that arethen distributed in a slurry, aerosol spray, or a paint or other coatingcontaining microradios and are used to coat an object for whichinformation is desired.

The use of a wafer, photolithographic patterning and etching techniquesprovides the 10-micron structures that, when made, can be pre-programmedwith serial numbers during the manufacturing process.

More particularly, the radios are printed on a wafer using conventionalsemiconductor processing techniques. Scribing lines are printed on thewafer to delineate each microradio. A chemical etches through eachscribing line to break up the wafer into small radio particles. Theparticles are then coated with a thin conducting layer. By pouring theparticles on a conducting surface, the microcontroller inside each radiocan receive a programming signal to load the serial number or perhapsother data or software inside the microradio control unit. In thismanner, the identity of each particle is known. It would also bepossible to program the radio serial number at the time of semiconductorprinting. However, in this case, changing the radio data requiresfabrication of a new reticle which is likely more expensive thanprogramming the particles on a conducting plate.

Referring now to FIG. 26, in one embodiment each radio 530 is sized totransmit ten microwatts: storage capacitor drives size. A radio containsa storage capacitor and less than 10,000 CMOS components. Using 50 nmCMOS, each radio is <20 micrometers. 10,000 radios fit along each axisof a 200 mm wafer. 100 million radios are obtained from a single $100wafer. Each radio may cost one micro-dollar.

Here the wafer 532 is cut into 100 million components 530, one of whichis shown in FIG. 27. Each part is coated with a conductive adhesive.Coated radios are dissolved in dilute grease or aerosol. The surfacetension of the coating creates a spherical shape. In the coatingprocedure the wafer element is coated in SiO₂ or other insulator exceptfor antenna coupling spots. Next, the wafer is coated with conductiveadhesive.

Placement techniques for the radio particles of the present inventioninclude UAV aerosol, munition aerosol, and manual grease.

Methods for Tracking Metal Objects Using Microradios

In the aerosol placement technique of FIG. 24, a preferably largeaircraft flies upwind. The aircraft releases smaller guided UAV or podable to home on specific coordinates the pod sprays aerosol at thetarget. Remote commands will then verify successful radio placement.After a radio is charged, it radiates a coded pulse to demonstratesuccessful operation. Conventional geolocation processing may beemployed to verify radio location. Applicable techniques includingangle-of-arrival determination using an antenna array, a swept beam ormonopulse processing, and ranging using time of arrival estimation amongmany other possible geolocation techniques.

Manual application of radio grease allows the radio grease to coat metalobjects, vehicles, and other equipment. The microradios are powered byambient RF for long-range polling.

Referring to FIG. 28, parasitic energy extraction and storage isillustrated. Here a resonator 534 is coupled to a four-diode rectifier536 output to a capacitor 538. High-dielectric parallel plate capacitorsare fabricated using BaTiO₃. The size is about 10×10×10 μm. Parasiticenergy extraction will be most efficient. Alternatively solar orremotely beamed energy charging could be incorporated. Other means arepossible if very low duty cycle operation is required.

It will be understood that electromagnetic coupling is effected in someapplications of the present invention by a microscopic devicefunctioning as electrode, not as a radiating element. The microscopicdevice is physically or capacitively coupled to a macroscopic body suchas a metal antenna, metal object, or a lossy dielectric, e.g. a mammal.While the isolated microradio antenna gain is proportionate to (d/λ)²which could be −80 dBi or less, coupled parasitic microradio gain rangesfrom typically −10 to +10 dBi depending on where the microradio isplaced.

Note that encapsulation may be accompanied by one of two modes, whichare a nonvolatile mode and a volatile mode.

Referring to FIG. 29, in the nonvolatile mode, micro-radios aredissolved into a material, and a permanent coating is applied to asurface. The surface may be, for example, metal, plastic or skin. Tomanufacture such a radio, aerosol radios are diluted in preferablynon-toxic solvent that is mixed with aerosol propellant. The resultingmixture is placed in pressurized vessel: aerosol can 540, UAV sprayer orsimilar housing having a liquefied gas/propellant mixture 542, a diptube 544 that goes through a seal 546 to a nozzle 548. Radios are thesame size as floating dust particles or fog droplets (5-40 μm). Thesolvent evaporates on contact leaving a sparse radio coating. Each radiois sized to transmit microwatts.

Authentication

It will also be understood that the method and apparatus of the presentinvention can also be used to authenticate documents, objects or people.A polling device transmits a secure coded waveform and possibly acharging signal to power up the radio particle. The radio particleresponds to the secure code waveform with its serial number. Comparingthe serial number to the secure database authenticates the item.Currency scanners can be developed using the same technique.

In all cases, shared key encryption is needed to prevent a third partyfrom pirating the polling waveform.

Referring to FIG. 30, in the volatile mode a box 548 contains paintedarticle 550. The article is painted with a paint or other coatingcontaining microradios to enable remote identification andauthentication. At the same time, the container is sealed and floatingin the air inside the container is a high vapor pressure solventcontaining small radio particles. In this case, opening the box releasesmicroradio vapor onto an intruder for tracing and attribution.

Coding

It will be appreciated that burst communication may be accomplished bymeans of the method and apparatus of the present invention. 50 nm CMOSlogic provides ample space for transistors with, for example 100transistors per square micrometer. Digital logic provides enhancedfunctionality by means, for example, of timers, decoders, waveformgenerators.

Referring to FIG. 31, covert tagging and tracking may also beaccomplished by means of the method and apparatus of the presentinvention, wherein each radio contains a unique 30-100+ digit serialnumber and access code. Radios only respond to messages containingcorrect access code from an access code generator 560 coupled to atransmitter 562 and to antenna 564, and appropriate address fields whichenable tracking down to an individual microradio. The subject systemalso enables sorting into user-defined radio groups as shown bymicroradio ensembles 566 and 568.

Monitoring

Referring to FIG. 32, the use of the method and apparatus of thisinvention to monitor sensitive objects may also be accomplished. Forexample, a container 570 may be provided with a spray-on biohazardcontainer lid 572. Container lids 572 contain adhesive radios 574.Container 570 may contain volatile radios 576 for sealed containers.Polling container serial numbers verifies that biohazards are stillsafely stored. Polling enclosure numbers will detect presence of radioson skin and clothing of personnel 578 who opened sealed containers. Suchtagging may be applied, for example, to hazardous containers.

Tracking of Animals and Objects

Referring to FIG. 33, those skilled in the art will appreciate that itwould be desirable to implant very small radios directly onto the bodiesof animals in order to track their whereabouts. On first look, the20-micrometer particle size makes detection of an embedded radioextremely difficult.

2 GHz is a desirable communication frequency for radios 580 embedded inan animal 582. It is important to model the body as a dielectric lossyconductor in order to understand communication link parametersassociated with communicating with animals. 2 GHz has been found to be agood compromise between the losses incurred in the body at lowerfrequencies and the loss of efficiency of the rectifying diodes athigher frequencies.

The communications protocol operates similarly to radio frequencyidentification tags. A polling signal 584 from a transmitter 586 chargesthe device. It may also be possible to charge the device from ambientradiation, especially in urban areas. Upon detecting the polling signal,the radio responds with a short transmission burst 590. This burstcontains enough data to identify the serial number of embedded radio.This serial number is indexed into a data base in order to identify thecarrier of the embedded radio particle.

It will also be understood that other tracking applications may beeasier to implement due to shorter range requirements. In these cases,more power is available to poll the particle in order to power theradios and to receive identification bursts. The four examples shown areprovided as initial applications. They are not all-inclusive.

Referring to FIG. 34, the method and apparatus of the presentapplication may also be used to track metal objects such as a watch 592.The paint or other coating containing microradios spray 594 describedabove will covertly tag and track virtually any metal object. Chemicalsadded to the spray can microscopically weld the radios into the metalwithout visual alteration. After spraying the object, polling it viasignal 596 logs the serial numbers of particles embedded on the metal byemitted signals received at 600. The serial numbers are stored in adatabase at 602 for future reference. Thus, for instance, if metallicobjects are uncovered in other locations, polling it can trace thesource. This information can help uncover security problems.

As illustrated at FIG. 35, at border crossing and other security gates610, radio polls involving a polling transceiver 614 identify vehicles612 well in advance of the actual encounter. Alternatively, pollingantennas 614 placed several kilometers along the road will provideguards with specific details of impending threats.

Harbor security is enhanced in a manner similar to other bordercrossing. A ship-mounted polling system can identify high-threat vesselsapproaching coastal areas including urban harbors with vulnerabletargets for terrorist acts. Shipping containers can also be tagged.

Other metal objects to be tracked in this manner include vehicles,machinery and chemical storage containers. This method can be used toinexpensively label products in which a paint or other coatingcontaining microradios spray is applied to a foil patch imprinted on thepackage.

A recent experiment showed that a microprobe effectively coupled into ametal object provided substantially more gain than free space radiationof the same microprobe. The probe injected a 1 mW 3 GHz current into analuminum case. Received power was −69 dBm, 7 dB more than was receivedfrom the isolated probe.

As part of the subject invention, a method is described in whichmicroradios are implanted in or on an object to be authenticated.

Embedding

The method and apparatus of the present invention may also be used inembedded sensors. Currently, many organizations are developingnanometer-scale sensors for measuring and detecting physical, chemicaland biological quantities. Examples include chemical sensors as, forexample, for Na, Cl, organics and inorganics; physical sensors, as, forexample, for stress, strain, pressure, voltage and charge; andbiological sensors as, for example, viruses, bacteria, cancer cells andDNA. In each case, the small size of the sensor creates a problem intransmitting to and receiving from the sensor. Attaching a radioparticle solves this problem by enabling remote access to the sensor.The radio particle provides batteryless power through its chargingcircuit, commands and other input information through its receiver and asensor data downlink through its transmitter to transmit sensor datafrom remote locations.

Measuring Flow in Nonmetallic Pipes or in Humans or Animals

Referring to FIG. 36, a nonmetallic pipe 620 includes a liquid 622 inwhich are entrained microradios 624 that produce emissions whenirradiated by energy from, for instance, a horn antenna 626 coupled to atransmitter 628, which is used to parasitically power the microradios inthe fluid that is moving along the pipe in the direction of arrow 630.By so doing and utilizing emitter location and visualization techniques,one can determine fluid flow and indeed properties of the fluid as itmoves within the nonconducting pipe.

Thus it will be understood that the method and apparatus of the presentinvention can be used for imaging flow in nonmetallic pipes. EmitterLocation and Visualization Systems (ELVIS) techniques can locate a radiosource to one-quarter wavelength. Using current NEMS technology to builda highly stable and miniature oscillator, one can anticipate building a3 GHz device in the near term. This corresponds to 25 mm ELVISresolution. Dissolving radio particles in a fluid would make it possibleto image the particles to this resolution as they flowed through a pipe.Time-dependent imaging would provide flow measurement inside the pipes,thereby providing non-invasive flow measurement and blockageidentification.

This technique also applies to mammals and humans. ELVIS can monitor andmeasure digestion, blood flow and air flow using radio particles. Itcould provide a far less expensive alternative to cardiaccatheterization, a hospital procedure used to measure blood flow and todetect blockages in coronary arteries. About 100,000 cardiaccatheterizations are performed annually, each costing about $20,000.00.

Future nano-electromechanical systems (NEMS) resonators are predicted toincrease the transmission frequency to at least 15 GHz, providing 5 mmresolution.

Treating Diseases Including Cancer

Referring to FIGS. 37 and 38, the present invention also encompasses amethod for treating cancer. In this method a receptor molecule 700 thatmay be referred to as a biomarker as is described by U.S. Pat. No.5,728,579 which is attached to a microradio 702, which is preferably aradio particle as is described herein that is also equipped with acapacitor and a switch. Receptor molecules and microradios are .injected into a human body 704, after which the receptor moleculeattaches to a malignant protein 706, also known as a cancer marker, on amalignant tumor. There is a controller 708 outside the body that isconnected to the microradio by a wireless link using transmitter 710 andantenna 712. The microradio is attached to the malignant protein. Asshown in FIG. 38, the controller goes through a charge phase, a pollphase and a fire phase, which causes the microradio and capacitorcombination to discharge current to the malignant tumor to reduce thesize of and eventually eliminate the tumor.

In summary, the techniques of high-density fabrication of micro sizedradios coupled with encoding during manufacturing and distributing vialiquid or aerosol, together with the use of a hysteresis switch andvarious types of gain-enhancing antennas, result in the ability tomassively deploy a large number of almost invisible microradios that actin concert to provide enough range to be useful for a wide variety ofapplications.

Regardless of how power is parasitically supplied to the microradios,what is important is to deploy an ensemble of radios, charge them,radiate back coherently from them and detect their signatures, includingthe information that is encoded in the microradio.

Note, if multiple microradios are made to operate in a coherent fashion,then there is an n² power advantage to give the ensemble of microradiosranges that exceed 10,000 kilometers such that these radios can be heardby satellites.

It will be noted that if all or selected numbers of the radios are madeto operate in a coherent fashion, then one has the n² power advantage.It has also been found that multiple coherently driven radios can beseparately demodulated utilizing multi-user detection techniques inwhich radios operating on the same frequency with the same modulationtype can have their transmissions separated out so that the informationon each of the signals can be separately demodulated and understood.

Because of the use of so many microradios over a given area, antennamatching is not a problem, whereas exotic antenna materials such asferromagnetically loaded loops can be used to increase the gain of themicroradios.

Such ensembles of microradios can be used to authenticate a document oritem where microradios can be embedded in the document or item, andscanned, for instance, only two inches away. When scanning close in, onemitigates free-space loss, such that if there is, for instance, onekilowatt shining towards the ensembled radios, the efficiency of theradios is not at issue.

For interrogation at a distance the techniques described herein permitremote powering and polling by, for instance, overflying at 100 feetwith a high-power transmitter.

Moreover, optimal charging cycles help power the radios, withsimultaneous charging at different frequencies permitting a betterconcentration of power to. exceed diode thresholds.

The microradios may be used, for instance, in object identification whendispersed over natural radiative structures, and can be used foranti-piracy by coating valuable objects with paint or other coatingcontaining microradios. For instance, expensive watches can be coatedwith microradios. Microradios can also be used to tag animals.

Moreover, shared key encryption can be used in which the interrogationkey must be present in order to read out the information from themicroradios.

Further, tracking can be achieved at choke points or by specializedreaders in some instances.

Note that packaging can be overprinted with radio ink, or containers canbe coated with encrypted microradio material. Additionally, microradioscan be embedded in the material itself so that they can be detected nomatter where used. Authentication is also possible through polling forspecific RF signatures and multi-user detector technology can be used toseparate out returns from different radios operating on the samefrequency.

The microradios are so small they can be used in measuring fluid flowsin large pipes or in small structures such as arteries, e.g., forvenograms or echocardiograms; and can be used in drug delivery systemsin which tagging molecules are provided with microradios that causelocal drug release upon activation.

While the present invention has been described in connection with thepreferred embodiments of the various figures, it is to be understoodthat other similar embodiments may be used or modifications or additionsmay be made to the described embodiment for performing the same functionof the present invention without deviating therefrom. Therefore, thepresent invention should not be limited to any single embodiment, butrather construed in breadth and scope in accordance with the recitationof the appended claims.

1. A method for detecting breach of a container, comprising the stepsof: modulating the signal from an ensemble of parasitically poweredmicroradios provided in aerosol form in a container, each of themicroradios in the ensemble having a predetermined code associatedtherewith such that the information relating to the code is transmitted;and, demodulating the transmission from the parasitically poweredmicroradios; the modulating step including parasitically injectingenergy into the area surrounding the container and determining anymicroradio emission such that if any other object in the area is coatedwith microradios having the predetermined code, it is ascertained thatthe container has been breached due to the emergence of the aerosolcontaining microradios away from the container, the microradiosattaching to other surfaces, including human or animal surfaces,identifying the individual or object breaching the container.
 2. Themethod of claim 1, and further including storing the serial number of anensemble of microradios relating to a particular article.
 3. A methodfor identifying articles, comprising the steps of: parasiticallypowering microradios embedded in an article, the microradio havingassociated codes such that the microradios emit signals incorporatingthe codes, whereby articles are identified through the embedding of theensembles of microradios each microradio including a rectifier, acapacitor to be parasitically powered coupled to the rectifier, anoscillator coupled to the capacitor, a hysteretic switch coupled betweenthe rectifier and the capacitor, a radiative structure coupled to bothsaid rectifier and said oscillator to permit the charging of thecapacitor in the microradio when a sufficient charge has been collectedon the capacitor and then to discharge the capacitor to permit releaseof sufficient energy to power the microradio, whereby the microradioscan be powered with relatively low levels of incident energy.
 4. Themethod of claim 3, wherein the microradios are spray-painted on afinished article.
 5. The method of claim 4, wherein a finshed article isprovided with indicia having microradios embedded therein.
 6. The methodof claim 3, wherein said ensemble of microradios is dispersed in aflowing fluid.
 7. The method of claim 3, wherein said associated codesare different for some microradios than for others.
 8. The method ofclaim 3, wherein said microradios include nano elements.
 9. The methodof claim 8, wherein said nano elements include nano-resonators.
 10. Themethod of claim 9, wherein said nano elements include electrodes, eachhaving a nano-wire extending therefrom to function as an antenna. 11.The method of claim 8, wherein said nano elements include asingle-electron transmitter.
 12. An anti-piracy method for establishingthe authenticity of an article, comprising the steps of: parasiticallypowering an ensemble of microradios provided within an aerosol within acontainer, the microradios having a predetermined code transmitted uponparasitic powering, the microradios having been provided with conductiveadhesive about each of the microradios such that as they escape thecontainer, they attach to a surface, thus to leave a trail to be able totrack the location of the container, detecting the emissions from theensemble of microradios to establish the existence of the code; and,authenticating the container through the existence or non-existence ofany code detected upon parasitic powering, whereby containers that havenot been provided with microradios, upon parasitic powering emit noradiation, thus indicating a pirated or fake article breach of thecontainer causing the microradios to be dispersed outside the container.13. The method of claim 12, and further including projecting energy toparasitically power the microradios over an area sufficient to detectthe presence of microradios that might have attached to surfaces;plotting the position of the microradios making transmissions; andgenerating a track of the positions of the microradios making thetransmissions so as to establish the present position of the containerthat original contained the microradios.
 14. The method of claim 12,wherein said microradios include nano elements.
 15. The method of claim14, wherein said nano elements include nano-resonators.
 16. The methodof claim 15, wherein said nano elements include electrodes, each havinga nano-wire extending therefrom to function as an antenna.
 17. Themethod of claim 14, wherein said nano elements include a single-electrontransmitter.
 18. A method for authentication comprising the step ofpositioning a parasitically powered microradio on or in an object to beauthenticated, the microradio including a rectifier, a capacitor to beparasitically powered, coupled to the rectifier, an oscillator coupledto the capacitor, a hysteretic switch coupled between the rectifier andthe capacitor, a radiative structure coupled to both said rectifier andsaid oscillator to permit the charging of the capacitor in themicroradio when a sufficient charge has been collected on the capacitorand then to discharge the capacitor to permit release of sufficientenergy to power the microradio, whereby the microradios can be poweredwith relatively low levels of incident energy.